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Saginaw City Council candidate profile: Rahmaan Kelley

Rahmaan Kelly | Saginaw News city council candidate forumKatie Bailey | MLive.com
The Saginaw News hosted a forum Monday, Oct. 14, for the 19 candidates vying for four open Saginaw City Council positions this election day, Nov. 5, 2013. These are Rahmaan Kelly's responses to the two questions asked at the forum.

Occupation: Eligibility
specialist for the State of Michigan, counselor
for GEC Psychological Consultants, owner of Charles and Rose Kelley Open
Arms Center for youth

Political experience:
Constant at Town Hall meetings and City Council forums. Advocated for more youth services throughout
the city and reinvestment in Saginaw locally owned businesses. Have spoken at many social and political
functions about the bright future of Saginaw and the accountability residents
need to uphold.

Education: 1995
Graduate of Saginaw High School. Attended Delta College. Graduate of Michigan State University with a
degree in Communications. Earned
Master's Degree from Spring Arbor University in Organizational Management.

Community service and
civic involvement: Former Board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Earned Key of The City for MLK Celebration in
2010. Mentor for over 50 youth and 10
adults. I have taught them about the
political process and also have taken kids on college road trips and afforded
them the opportunity to speak at City Hall before The City Council.

Family: Five
children, Teymaan, Nailah, Amari, Rahmaan Jr., Amyra

How important is the
city government's role in economic development and what would you change about
how the city approaches development efforts?

The city government's role is essential in setting the tone
for economic development. The government
has the capacity to create a business friendly environment by getting rid of barriers
that discourage developers and entrepreneurs to invest in Saginaw. If we take a look at the available real
estate for businesses in Saginaw, one would ask what are we doing to attract
businesses here? Can we create a more
attractive tax incentive for businesses who want to come here? What regulations are a necessity and what
regulations impugn the possible start-up of a business. Are these regulations the same across the
board? Are the SEDC loans being
adequately dispersed to businesses that have a sound business portfolio? Is the issue of prevailing wages helping or
hindering the business community of Saginaw.
These are issues that we need to revisit and look at modifying because
obviously what we are doing right now is netting the desired results.

What is your vision
for the future of public safety service in Saginaw, and what practical steps
would you advocate in making that vision a reality?

Public Safety is great concern for everyone in Saginaw. The perception of an unsafe community, handicaps businesses from wanting to invest in Saginaw and also keeps people from
visiting our great city. There are two
ways that I would address our public safety concerns. First I would address the issue where it
begins and that's with our youth. If we
don't provide an alternative for our youth and guide them on the right path,
then they will be our future offenders.
And those crimes typically occur in the neighborhoods that they were
raised in. I would advocate for a more
aggressive youth service agenda. That
would entail investing in afterschool programs that teach our children about
leadership, proper communications, ingratiating them with the police force and
realizing that fire fighters and police officers are our friends and not our
adversaries. Bringing back the Battle of
The Books program. Encouraging our kids
to read as much as possible. An agenda
that affords our kids to visit Delta College and Saginaw Valley, so that a
spark can be lit that will encourage them to pursue higher education. These are the types of programs that we need
to invest in so that down the road we are not prosecuting these kids or reading
about them in the Obituary, but we are attending their graduations. In the immediate challenge that we face
today, I believe that we need to have more police officers in our
community. But it doesn't stop
there. We need Community Police Officers
in our neighborhoods. The residents
should have relationships with our officers.
Right now the relationship between residents and our public safety force is fractured. I'd offer incentives for Fire and Police
officers to live in the city. These
relationships will offset some of the "stop snitching" attitude that permeates
through our younger residents. To recap,
we need to catch our youth at an impressionable age and invest in life skills
that will deter them from a life of violence.
I would push for a more full but yet effective public safety force that
interacts with the community and builds relationships with residents. When officers are in the "know" of what is
going on in the community, than this knowledge can prevent some of the crimes
that we are facing.

How would you address
Saginaw's chronic budget deficits? Please identify specific areas where
expenses can be reduced and/or ideas for revenue enhancement.

I would look at the City Park Tax and see how many City
residents are using parks such as Immerman Park. But I would advocate for more revenue in the
pot. Right now we are stuck in neutral
because there isn't enough revenue being generated. We cut here, we increase there but we do not
move the needle. The solution is
bringing in more revenue. We have a
great opportunity with the new medical corridor that is coming downtown. We have an opportunity to expand on our
riverfront. For years we have had these
resources at our disposal but we haven't see the progress. Developers are interested in investing in
Saginaw but we aren't meeting them with same fervor and optimism that they have
in Saginaw. Our budget is not full enough. We do not have the flexibility to escape debt
because we have too many unoccupied buildings in Saginaw that can be an
incubator for jobs.

Would you support an
amendment to Saginaw's city charter to remove one or both of the caps on
property tax collection? Why or why not?

The taxes on property should be proportionate to the
population that we have in Saginaw.
Removing the tax cap will not alleviate the strains on residents if the
usage of our tax dollars aren't used
more effectively. Saginaw is hovering
at around 50,000 residents, and the majority of our residents are renters. So the homeowners are carrying the burden of
our taxes and this is unfair. So the cap
does provide them some relief, but that is not the answer. The answer is investing our taxes in proper
line items that will reinvigorate our economy.
More homeowners, more employers, more employees is what will make the
property tax cap a moot point. But with
the current appropriation of funds it does not matter if the cap is removed or
not, because we will wind up in the same position every year.

Why should city
residents choose you over the other 18 candidates on the ballot?

City residents should choose me because I have the vision,
the energy, the ideas and the understanding of what it will take to turn
Saginaw around. If you look at how I
have lived my life, it has been one that has been well rounded. I am not a Councilman that only understands
one pocket of the community, but I have a full grasp of what we need as a city
in order to thrive. My experiences as a
servant has never limited itself to one side of the bridge. I'm not beholden to different special
interest groups. As a City Councilman
you can count on me to serve all of Saginaw and every decision will be in the
interest of making our city stronger. I
am not afraid to take an unpopular stance because that's what leaders do. I will be transparent and I would ask for all
residents to become as involved as possible in rebuilding our city. I know what it takes to turn Saginaw around,
and I will bring that passion and represent residents with honor at the table.

What is the most
important issue facing Saginaw and what solution or solutions to address that
issue would you pursue, if elected?

The biggest problem facing Saginaw today is the "acceptance
of mediocrity". We must rid ourselves of
this spirit. Saginaw is ALIVE, and full
of greatness. This thought that Saginaw
is years away from recovery or our challenges are greater than our potential is
false. We need to change the attitude of
this community and realize that we are surrounded by greatness and greatness in
our residents. Every time I hear a
negative story about Saginaw I respond with two great stories in our city. We need someone at the table that see's the
potential of Saginaw and will do everything he or she can to bring that
greatness out. We have the necessary
tools before us to reduce crime, to rebuild our schools, to inject vitality in
our economy, bring jobs here, cave our kids, create harmony and relationships
among residents from different backgrounds.
All this is beyond feasible, it can happen, it will happen. But first we need leaders at the helm that
believe this to be true. Mediocrity is
beneath us. We are greater than the
challenges that come against us. I look
at the picture and find reasons why we will be successful as opposed to why we
will fail. Our biggest obstacle is being
receptive to the status quo. Kids
shouldn't be dying in our streets.
Developers should not be passing on Saginaw. Police officers and fire fighters shouldn't
be looking for work. Our revenue should be a surplus These things are possible and we need
Councilmen members that believe in the "possible."